Blade Runner

Blade Runner is a 1982 science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott, depicting a dystopic Los Angeles in November 2019.

Music

Main article: Blade Runner (soundtracks)

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:"Both emotional and unsettling, the Blade Runner score plays off conflict (discord versus harmony, light against dark) for a rich, textured tapestry of sound." – musicoutfitter.com

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Vangelis, fresh off of his Academy Award winning score from Chariots of Fire, composed and performed the music on his synthesizers. The musicscape of the 2019 was created in Vangelis' "space" mode of new age music, as heard on such albums of his as Heaven and Hell. He also made use of various chimes and the vocals of collaborator Demis Roussos. Ridley Scott also used "Memories of Green" from Vangelis' album See You Later (an orchestral version of which Scott would later use in his film Someone To Watch Over Me).

Related Topics:
Vangelis - Academy Award - Chariots of Fire - Synthesizer - New age music - Heaven and Hell - Demis Roussos - See You Later - Someone To Watch Over Me

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Despite the promise of a soundtrack album from Polydor Records in the end titles of the film, the release of the original soundtrack recording was delayed for over a decade. There are two official releases of the music from Blade Runner. In light of the lack of a release of an album, The New American Orchestra recorded an orchestral adaptation in 1982 which bore little resemblance to the original. Some of the film tracks would in 1989 surface on the compilation Themes, but it wasn't until the 1992 release of the Director's Cut version would a substantial amount of the film's score see the light of day. However, while most of the tracks on the album are from the film, there were a few that Vangelis composed but were ultimately not used and some new pieces. Many do not consider this to be a satisfying representation of the score.

Related Topics:
1982 - 1989 - 1992

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These delays and poor reproductions led to many bootlegs over the years. A bootleg tape surfaced in 1982 at science fiction conventions and became popular given the delay of an official release of the original recordings, and in 1993 "Off World Music, Ltd." created a bootleg CD that would prove more comprehensive than Vangelis' official CD in 1994. A disc from "Gongo Records" features most of the same material, but with slightly better sound quality. In 2003, two other bootlegs surfaced, both called "Esper Editions." A single disc set featured ambiences from the film, and a double disc combined the ambiences with tracks from the official release, the Gongo boot and the film itself. The Gongo release is considered the best presentation of the music, while the Esper Editions are considered excellent mementos of the film.

Related Topics:
Bootleg - 1993 - CD - 1994 - 2003

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:"Dreamy, evocative, beautiful and essential." – moviegrooves.com

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